Mary Did You Know?

Christmas is coming up fast, it seems. I feel like I am so far behind and totally not ready. Maybe it’s because it’s so warm yet. My brain thinks it’s still October. Anyway, I thought I would share a little exercise that I am doing with my friends from church – it is helping me practice gratitude and reminding me of the joy that came with the birth of Christ.

The holidays are busy for everyone and some of us fly south for the winter (not me, in case you were wondering – although with El Nino upon us, I’m not sure you can tell the difference between Florida and Wisconsin right now) so we are participating, via email, in prayerful reflection (lectio divine) over a single scripture.

The scripture we are reflecting on is this:  And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. Luke 2:1

Yeah, what a fun one…government and taxes.

But of course, we all know the “rest of the story..” (read in Paul Harvey’s voice for best results).  Because of this decree, Joseph and Mary have to schlep from Nazareth to Bethlehem of Judea – 80 odd miles via roadways made 2000 years ago (translation:  really crappy roads).  On foot.  For over a week.  During the rainy season.  Wearing layers of woolen cloaks.  Up and down and up and down hills.  Sleeping outside.  In the mud.  And the cold.  Carrying all of their own provisions.  With Mary 9 months pregnant (NINE MONTHS!).

Oh wait – they had a donkey.  That makes it so much better.

I just realized that Mary had the perfect labor and delivery story to use on Jesus.  “I had to walk 80 miles!  Pregnant!  In the rain!  Uphill!  And after we got there, we couldn’t find a hotel and ended up having you in a cave.  And then a bunch of smelly shepherds piled in and then those singing angels!  Oy!  The singing!  The noise!  The smell!  And the next day we had to go pay taxes.  TAXES!  You should be so lucky.  So don’t tell me you’re “too tired” to heal the sick.  I’ll give you “too tired….”

Meanwhile Jesus is rolling his eyes and picking at the food on his plate, wondering why all the OTHER kids get to go to the camel races.

I remember my ninth month with both of my pregnancies. I don’t recall it as being a “good time”. I certainly wouldn’t recommend it as a time for an 80 mile hike – with or without a donkey.  I couldn’t see my feet, which is surprising because they had grown a size and were swollen to the point that the only shoes that fit were Dave’s slippers. I had to pee every 5 minutes which meant I had to somehow negotiate the physics of sitting down and standing up without tipping over into the bathtub.

I couldn’t stand very long without my stomach muscles threatening to flee the country and when I sat down, my pelvis felt like it was burrowing it’s way to China. Laying down was marginally better, except the having to pee every 5 minutes thing and flopping around like a big ole fat fish trying to get out of the waterbed (a sight to see, mind you. And stop raising your eyebrows about the waterbed. This was the eighties. I’m old, remember?).

So the very idea of poor Mary and Joseph spending the last week of her pregnancy hiking thru the hills of Galilee and Judea gives me a new appreciation for my millennial comforts.  I think I shall go out in the garage and hug my car now, thank you very much.  And my accountant.  And my nice hospital where I gave birth to my children in my fancy birthing suite.  And that county road worker over there, laying down the new asphalt so I can drive my car on nice smooth roads.  Oh wait…he’s running away.  Why is he running?  Wow, he is fast!  Fine!  Don’t get your hug then!  Your loss, buddy!

So “it came to pass” that cars were invented and hospitals and accountants and yoga pants and cute maternity tunics and Skechers.  And women sometimes took these things for granted until they read about Mary and then became ever so grateful that God had allowed them to be born in a time that did not require 80 mile hikes and riding on donkeys and giving birth in caves in front of smelly shepherds because it was weird enough having half the nursing and intern staff staring at her nether regions.

May the peace and joy of our living Savior follow you throughout this holiday season, as we celebrate His humble birth.

Joyous-Grateful-Christmas-Tactically yours,

Sue

PS.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.  And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. – Luke 2:7-14

 

#100HappyDays Plus Lent

Lent.  When I was a kid, I always gave something up for lent.  Usually it was candy or soda.  As an adult, I have only very rarely participated in that aspect of Lent – mostly because the motives for giving something up became linked to losing weight or some other selfish end.  That’s really missing the point of what Lent is all about, which is a time of reflection and growth in your relationship with Christ, as well as a preparation for the most holy of weeks and the grand finale – the Resurrection.

However, this year I ran across this article, posted by a friend on Facebook: 20 Things To Give Up For Lent.  This inspired me to try something different this year, and I am heeding the advice given in the article by giving up Guilt and Worry.

Living my life consumed by guilt is like telling God He isn’t big enough to heal my past or that I am beyond forgiveness.  If I say with my mouth that I don’t believe those things, then I should practice believing it in my heart.  And if I believe it in my heart, then it’s time to move away from that damaging self talk Guilt whispers every day, and move forward instead into change and forgiveness.

Worry is the Ugly Step-Sister to Guilt.  I worry about things I have absolutely no control over with the misguided internal belief that if I worry about them enough, I can somehow control them.  And even though worry has never changed a single outcome in all of my 50 years of existence, I continue to practice it.  You all know the definition of insanity, right?  So it’s time to start practicing Trust, in place of Worry, and learn to allow Peace to follow Trust.

A tall order for only 40 days.  And I am pretty sure I will fail.  But every day is a new day and a new chance to start again.  No success has ever come without failure along the way.  I will give you an update after Easter.

Now, on to #100HappyDays!  These are in no particular order, by the way.  Nor do I have a picture for everyday since my last 100 Happy Days post – things have been a little hectic with all the moving stuff.  I am sure you will enjoy what I have though.  🙂

Birthday Stragglers:  My brother and my oldest sister decided I needed a little more Nifty Fifty-ness in my life.  Below are their contributions.

Words of Wisdom from my OLDER brother

Old Age Tool Kit From my OLDEST sister, complete with sticky note instructions. Because us old people are so forgetful you know.

KUUUUUUHN!

We got to meet John Kuhn at our sales meeting. Besides me and Kuhn, that’s our sales rep Judy on the left and my co-worker Kirby in the middle. Notice I’m wearing Packer gold. Totally not planned. I’m just sort of awesome that way.

Besides going thru all the photos, I also went thru a pile of the kids old toys we still had.  I ran across this truck and had to take a picture.  Matt used to do this to a lot of his trucks – he would draw up decals and tape them to the body.  Seeing this made me smile and remember the sweet boy who spent so much time laying on the floor with his cars and trucks.  “Matthew the Vehicle King”.

Another Nifty Fifty Event!  A beautiful necklace from my friends Karen and Betsy, from their store, Pretty Poppy.  If you happen to be in Newburyport, Massachusetts, stop in!  It’s a girl’s dream.  Seriously – I could never bring my daughter in there.  I would go broke.

Latte Friday!!  Every Friday, I go thru Jitter Bean for a latte.  Yummy delicious – and Julie always gives out an animal cookie with each cup!  If you have never been there, you need to check them out.  Buy Local!!!

 

This adorable girl.

Daisy Duke aka Dobby

This goofball cat.

Rub ma bellay! Rub it!

Lucky with his snowbeard.

Let me in, lady! It’s freezing out here.

Going to see Wicked with my daughter, my sister and my niece.  I will say this was the one time I liked the play or movie better than the book.  Excellent performances by everyone and we had fantastic seats.  

Lindsay’s “Wicked” inspired drink at the restaurant.  It looked like lime jello.

 

Cousin Mike’s retirement after 24 years in the Navy.  Thank you, Mike, for standing the watch!  We are grateful and blessed to have men like you serving in our country.

This – just because.

Finally getting to meet my adorable grand-niece who is almost a year already.  Where does the time go?  A popular old fart lament, I know.  I’m not putting in our picture because this is a public blog, but suffice to say she is super cute and takes after her auntie in Greatness.  Happy Birthday, B!!

This ginormous snow pile on the corner of our street.  My neighbors had to have made this on purpose.  Too bad they don’t have any kids – it would make an awesome fort!

Holy snow pile, Batman.

This “Goodbye Winter, You Suck” cookie we got from work today.  Okay, that’s not what they called it.  Something more politically correct like “Beat the winter blues” or some happy horseshit.  But we all know the truth.  Winter, we are done with you! Done, I say!

My new bedroom set.

 

Ha!  Just kidding.  I really did get one, but it’s in the garage at my in-laws.  In our 28.5 years of marriage, we have never had a matching bedroom set, so I am pretty stoked about this.  Once we are moved in, I will post pictures.

And finally, random pictures of our new house while under construction.  We just went out there last night, and it’s almost all done.  Wheeee!  One more week!

This will likely by my last post for a few weeks due to the move.  We got rid of my old desk and I’m sitting on a low stool with my keyboard on my lap, gazing up at my computer which is on an end table.  I thought the stool would work but it turns out I’m still a little low.  Anyway, long story short – it’s not super comfortable, thus the suspension of blog posts until I am set up in our new house.  I expect it will be the 27th before you see me again.  Hopefully we will be firmly above the freezing mark by then!

Stay warm, my friends!
Sue

 

 

 

Spirit of Christmas Present

Oh, Christmas.  How I wanted you to be different this year.  To have more meaning, more thought, more purpose.  I wanted you to live up to the warmth of the Norman Rockwell painting.  To the wonder of Twas The Night Before Christmas.  To the peace of the Nativity.

Oh Holy Night. Image courtesy of Vector Clip Art

I wanted to FEEL you, Christmas.  In my heart and in my brain and in every fiber of who I am.  And yet I woke up the other morning and realized you were about to pass me by if I didn’t do something about it.

Perhaps, dear Christmas, I have put you on a pedestal.

Most years, the day after Christmas finds me a little sad and disappointed.  Yes, I loved spending time with family and friends and walking the dogs at night past the house lights in the neighborhood while listening to Harry Belafonte.  I enjoyed watching all of the Christmas specials like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and the Grinch.  I went to Christmas parties and baked cookies and gave to charities.  But part of me spent the entire season looking past my loved one’s shoulders, hoping to see the perfect Christmas coming around the corner.

So this year, I decided to help put together a retreat called “Too Much Christmas” for one of our church groups, in an effort to find ways to add more meaning and less “doing” to this Christmas.  But, instead of taking Christmas off the pedestal, I unknowingly built the pedestal higher.  Like, a lot higher.  Baby Jesus probably has a nose bleed.  If there were any lemmings at the Nativity, they would be leaping to their deaths right now.

And I had such great plans!

I was going to pick something to purchase from the Samaritan’s Purse Christmas Catalog to give as a family, and my family was going to LIKE IT and think it was COOL and know we were the best family EVER.  (Really – check them out.  It is a pretty cool charity).

I was going to start not just one, but TWO new family Christmas traditions – one for just Dave and I and one for us and the kids.  No idea what – but I was going to “go big or go home”.

I was going to suggest a new activity for the Conard family Christmas, where we all brought a small notebook with our names on them, cutely decorated according to our personalities, and everyone would write wonderful, smarmy things in them about each other

I was going to sit with Dave and my two adult children on Christmas Eve and read the nativity story from Luke (2: 1-20) and then from Matthew (2:1-12), somewhere between leaving Grandma and Grandpa DeGroots but before I went to midnight mass with my parents.

I was going to have a baking day with my friends, and we would all gather round in my kitchen and laugh and make cut outs and eat chocolate and talk about how this was the best Christmas EVER.

Mmmmmm….cookies!

In reality, we decided to sell our house about two weeks after that retreat, and I have prepared for none of the items on my list, as instead I have been preparing my home (and my heart) for its new family.  I have been feeling sad and confused and certainly not in the Christmas spirit.

So I trudged off to work that morning, crabby and grumpy.  It didn’t help that it was a Monday.  Are there any good Mondays? I thought, as I walked thru the biting wind.  I frumped my way thru the morning, and by 2pm, when I went to work out with my friends, I was pretty happy the day was almost over.  We worked out hard (I’m still sore, three days later), and as usual, I was able to forget about everything for a while, except just making it thru the next set.

I don’t know what happened, but when I got back to my desk, I realized I had Christmas right in my possession, all this time. Maybe it was the endorphins or maybe that I only had another hour to work, or maybe clearing my mind opened it up for me to hear God’s voice.  Probably it was all of those things.  But suddenly, I felt okay about not being in the Christmas spirit.

So what if we are not the perfect family having the perfect Norman Rockwell Christmas?  So what if the only decorations I have out this year are my tree and my Nativity?  So what if I feel crabby on Mondays and it’s too cold to walk the dogs and see the lights?  So what if I am sad about leaving my home of 15 years on one hand and excited to move on to the next chapter of our lives on the other?  So what if Christmas day comes and goes and I don’t feel any different than I would on any other given day?

In truth, it doesn’t matter.  It doesn’t matter because I realized Christmas is in the everyday, just as Christ is in the everyday.

When Christ was born, he came without ribbons.  He came without tags.  He came without packages, boxes, or bags.  He came like all children come – with pain and blood and fear and wonder.  He came with a chorus of angels heard only by the smallest of audiences, a few shepherds out in the hills.  His parents worried about all the things new parents worried about.  Was he warm enough?  Was he hungry?  Did he have all ten fingers and toes?  Surely they were wondering if he really was the son of God or if they had just imagined the whole thing.  He must have seemed so….normal.

And that’s what I learned.  I am going to live in the spirit of Christmas “present”.  To live, feel, breathe, love, weep –with all of who God made me to be – every single normal moment of every single normal day of every single normal year – no matter what comes.  No strings attached.  No “it has to be this way” or “we have to go here” or “I am supposed to feel this way”.  No more over the top expectations out of people or events.

So this is my promise to myself:  Just for today, I choose to live in the moment, even the crappy moments, because it is the moments that make up who I am.  Just for today, I choose to be present, to look all situations in the eye, because the present is where my loved ones are.  Just for today, I will embrace and accept my life, whether I’m in the valley of darkness or the mountain top of joy.

Each day is a gift.  Each day is Christmas.  Christmas doesn’t ‘come’.  Christmas just ‘is’.

I love hearing from you!  What will you do, Just for Today?

Contentedly yours,

Sue